"Spring is upon us. Winter’s accumulated snow and ice are beginning to melt. Gentle rains soak the land. The earth itself seems heavy with moisture—saturated with it—and the landscape is becoming a wellspring of life.
Spring is a season of birth, new beginnings, renewal, and growth—a time for the earth to make manifest the latent potential within all things. Seeds are germinating, flowers budding, insects buzzing, leaves unfurling. And despite our growing separation from the natural world, we are deeply affected by this gentle stirring around us.
Our physiology senses a natural opportunity for a fresh, clean start; our bodies are primed to lighten things up, cleanse ourselves of any accumulated imbalances, and rejuvenate our deepest tissues.
As the natural world emerges from its long winter slumber, it is common to experience a renewed sense of joy and inspiration. But for many, the spring season is also associated with seasonal irritants, heaviness, and feelings of lethargy.
Thankfully, an appropriate seasonal routine can help us...
"Ayurveda recognizes winter as a kapha season with strong vata undertones. It is characterized by cold weather, a sense of heaviness, increased moisture (usually in the form of rain or snow), cloud-covered days, and the grounded, slow feeling that sends many animals into hibernation. These are all qualities shared by kapha dosha, which is why winter is considered—primarily—a kapha season.
However, if your climate is exceptionally cold and dry, or if you tend to feel more isolated during the winter months, vata will also be a strong component of your winter season, and you will want to actively keep vata placated as well.
How to Create a Supportive Winter Diet
Winter is actually the season when the digestive fire is strongest. The body requires more fuel to stay warm and healthy in the winter months, and the cold weather forces the fire principle deep into the core of the body—igniting the digestive capacity.
Our bodies, therefore, crave a more substantial, nutritive diet at this time of...
Dry brushing the skin is a comparatively new trend, though its roots lie in ancient times. It’s common in Ayurvedic medicine and is an ancient Kriya yoga practice but many cultures, including the ancient Greeks and Japanese, have used skin brushing to cleanse the skin. It’s done at day spas but you can do it yourself too!
It’s called “dry” brushing because you aren’t scrubbing up while you bathe or shower; instead, a firm, bristled brush is swept across the skin, from toe to head. Both the skin and brush are completely dry. Dry brushing has gained traction for a reason. The benefits include:
Detoxifying the skin - Dry brushing unclogs pores in the exfoliation process. It also helps detoxify your skin by increasing blood circulation and promoting lymph flow/drainage. By unclogging pores, it’s easier for the body to sweat and eliminate toxins in your system.Stimulating the nervous system - Dry brushing can stimulate the nervous system. It can also leave you feeling invigorated like a massage often does.Giving...
By Devinder Kaur, Owner and Director of PranaShanti Yoga Centre
Sleep is the time for the body and mind to rest, reset, detoxify, and rejuvenate. However, sometimes life interferes with our internal biological rhythms, which can result in too little sleep or not very good sleep. A balanced sleep cycle is important for our health and well-being on a number of levels. Good sleep improves our brain performance, mood, and health. Not getting enough quality sleep regularly raises the risk of many diseases and disorders and can affect our ability to concentrate, to think clearly and process memories.
Yoga is a gentle and restorative way to help wind down at the end of the day. These three yoga poses relieve tension and stress to help prepare for sleep. The more that you practice the poses, the more they can help in a good night’s sleep.
Practice these poses before bedtime and stay in them about 3 to 5 minutes each.
1. Wide-Knee Child’s Pose...
Ayurveda considers a seasonal routine an important cornerstone of health year-round. Balancing the nature of your local climate with lifestyle choices that offset the potential for seasonally-induced imbalances is one of the simplest ways that you can protect your well-being.
But keep in mind that the seasons vary widely from one place to another, as do the qualities that they engender.
Vata season is whatever time of year most embodies the attributes that characterize vata dosha: dry, light, cold, rough, subtle, mobile, and clear (or empty).
Autumn is the classic vata season. However, depending on where you live, the dry and expansive qualities of vata may be the principal components of your environment in other seasons too—showing as early as summer, and if autumn is followed by a very drying, cold, isolating, or windy winter.
Beginning to observe your environment from this qualitative perspective empowers you to respond to both daily and seasonal changes in your local climate. The truth is that many of...
The most striking characteristics of summer—the heat, the long days of bright sun, the sharp intensity, and the transformative nature of the season—are directly in line with pitta dosha, which is why summer is considered a pitta season.
And, despite the fact that some climates are exceptionally humid this time of year, the cumulative effect of intense heat is to dry things out, so summer is also considered dry. On a more subtle level, summer is a time of expansion and mobility—traits more characteristic of vata dosha.
While there is plenty to celebrate about summer’s unique personality, it’s possible to have too much of a good thing.
A summer seasonal routine is aimed at fostering diet and lifestyle habits that will help prevent the over-accumulation of summer qualities and allow you to enjoy the unique gifts that summertime has to offer.
General Recommendations for Pitta Season
Your primary focus through the summer months will be to keep pitta balanced by staying cool, mellowing intensity with relaxation,...
New Procedures for COVID-19
We are happy to announce that Registered Massage Therapy resumes starting Monday, June 15!
This is a gradual re-opening with a phased approach accepting appointments first for the clients that have chronic pain or had interrupted treatment plans. If you are booking online and you don't see the availability you are looking for please contact us. We are keeping a waiting list and may be able to open up additional time slots.
Please note the following points on how we will be addressing appointments:
All Massage Therapists will be wearing disposable surgical masks.
Clients are requested to bring a mask (reusable cloth masks are fine).
We ask that you arrive alone and wait outside the Centre until you are asked to enter. If there are any forms to be completed these will be emailed to you before your appointment.
For contact-less payment, all services will be prepaid in advance of the appointment either online at the time of booking or...
Turmeric Tea
Turmeric is lauded for its healing powers in folk medicine and Ayurveda, it's even highly recommended as part of a Kundalini lifestyle. Research has shown that turmeric promotes digestion, reduces inflammation and joint paint, and even promotes cellular repair.
You may recognize it as the spice that gives curry its bold yellow colour, but some recipes, like this tea, allow turmeric to shine in its own sweeter, delicious right. A word of warning: turmeric is used as a dye for a good reason - it stains anything it comes into contact with, so best to wear an apron.
This is a paste that you can use for one cup of tea and then store the rest in the refrigerator. Making tea is very easy, and we provide a few customizable options for you to enjoy your own cup!
This can be made into iced tea by adding lots of ice to dissolved tea for summertime enjoyment.
Ingredients
1/3 cup local, raw honey...
Prenatal Yoga for the Perfect Birth by Jennifer Gillean
Wouldn’t it be nice if we could guarantee a desired birth outcome in some way-with yoga?! Insert EASY button here! As most of us have discovered, at least for the bigger events in our life, rarely do things unfold as we expect or can possibly plan for. So why do so many health professionals recommend yoga and meditation? Could this be the same reason behind the natural draw many women feel towards yoga when expecting?
Practicing yoga during pregnancy gives you a renewed opportunity to connect with your mind, body and heart, accepting all that arises during this transformational period in your life. During the Prenatal Series, we aim to support you at every stage of this exciting time while helping to build on skills of coping and more. In each session of the Prenatal Yoga series we will wade through mindfulness and breathing strategies (aka Pranayama) to align with where you are...
Yoga Therapy for Thyroid Health by Melissa Delaney
The thyroid gland is an incredibly important part of the endocrine system and can affect various systems within the body such as brain function, bone development, metabolism, as well as the cardiovascular, digestive and nervous systems. Thyroid disorders can be linked to hormone imbalances, genetics, autoimmune disorders, reproductive health and may even surface as a side effect from certain medications. As with many health risks poor diet and stress can also impact thyroid health.
Unfortunately, thyroid disorders are common and if left untreated, can lead to serious health complications such as increased risk of osteoporosis and heart problems. To further educate yourself on thyroid health as well as keeping your thyroid healthy it is important to find an integrative thyroid specialist, get regular testing and follow a proper yet holistic treatment plan.
My interest in yoga for thyroid health comes from my very own experience with thyroid disease. I experienced the typical symptoms such as...
